Pacers' strong bench unit brings surplus value

How Indiana Pacers players have fared in their first five games.
Scott Horner, scott.horner@indystar.com

SAN ANTONIO, TX - OCTOBER 24: Members of the Indiana Pacers celebrate after a Domantas Sabonis dunk against the San Antonio Spurs during an NBA game on October 24, 2018 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Edward A. Ornelas/Getty Images)(Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, Getty Images)

INDIANAPOLIS – The value of the Indiana Pacers’ sterling second unit stretches beyond helping win games. Well, it stretches beyond helping win games in October and November.

If the Pacers second unit continues to play as well as it has throughout most of the first five games of the season, that could wind up helping the Pacers pick up critical victories in February and March — and perhaps even into April and May.

A byproduct of having, as Bojan Bogdanovic recently called it, “five starters coming off the bench,” is that it relieves some of the pressure from the Pacers’ true starting rotation from having to play big minutes early in the year

So far, all five returning starters from the 2017-18 campaign are playing between 2-4 minutes fewer a night than they averaged last season with the exception of Darren Collison, who is playing about six minutes less.

Two minutes here, three minutes there. It might not seem like much, but all of those minutes add up, and that could eventually pay big dividends for the Pacers. If each starter averages three fewer minutes per game, that adds up to nearly 250 minutes. For someone like Thaddeus Young, who played in excess of 32 minutes per game last year, that’s the equivalent of taking an extra seven games off during the season.

That’s a playoff series.

Young, who is putting his body through its 12th NBA season, knows the value of being able to conserve energy and limit the wear and tear – even if it’s only for a few extra minutes a night.

“Any team that doesn’t have to load up it starters with a lot of minutes in the beginning of the season or in the middle of the season, has an advantage later on,” said the team co-captain, who also called the Pacers’ second unit one of the best he’s ever played with. “That’s huge, especially going into the playoffs. You want guys as rested as possible.”

Young credits not only the bench’s talent but versatility for helping spare the starters long nights. Free-agent import Tyreke Evans has already played three different positions for the Pacers this year. He’s picking up 22 minutes a night. Domantas Sabonis can play two positions and is already familiar with the rhythms of the starting five, having logged significant time with that group last season while Myles Turner was injured. He’s playing more than 22 minutes a night.

Add in Cory Joseph (24.4 minutes a night) and Doug McDermott (19.8 minutes per night) and the Pacers have nine players averaging nearly 20 minutes a night. And as Victor Oladipo says following Pacers practice on Friday, there's been little — if any — dropoff from the Pacers' first unit.

“We have a lot of guys who can really score the basketball," Young said. “You can put Tyreke out there with anybody. You can put Domas out there with anybody. T.J., Cory, Doug, Kyle O’Quinn, all those guys play really good together. We have a great second unit really meshing well together, and it shows that any guy can step in and play and make a lot of baskets and kind of get us going as a team.”

The only potential pitfall of spreading out limited minutes, Collison said, is messing with a player or unit’s rhythm. The point guard recalled playing for Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers, saying that occasionally the time off lasted too long and he fell out of sync.

“It’s a thin line,” a coach has to navigate, the 10-year veteran explained. “I’ve been around teams where guys like Doc (Rivers) and other head coaches like him, you have so many days off and you kind of lose rhythm if you don’t get in the gym yourself. So you got to make sure you stay in rhythm and stay as active as you can.”

But as long as McMillan strikes the right balance, Collison added, Pacers starters will be thrilled about being able to conserve some energy for later in the season.

“Oh man, it’s good for all of us,” Collison said. “We’ve been chilling mostly the whole time at the end of games. We’ve had a lot of blowouts, either us doing it to them or the other way around, so all of the starters are mostly playing between 20-25 minutes. Hopefully it will pay off in the long run.”

Evans out vs. Cavs

Evans will not play Saturday night in Cleveland due to a violation of team rules, the team announced.

“I was late for practice,” Evans said in a statement. “This is the most professional and team-oriented organization I have been with in my career. They deserve my best every day and I am disappointed in myself for causing a distraction that prevents me from being able to help my team tomorrow. I will do better.”

The team's announcement did not specify if Evans would miss additional games.

Evans was at practice Friday but left with an executive from the team's community relations department. Team president Kevin Pritchard addressed the team after practice, though players would not provide any details about what was discussed.